Dark Ages
The Dark Ages were a time period in the Middle Ages of the Historical Era of Earth; the name is something of a misnomer, as it was a period of cultural flourishing in many parts of the world. They began around 474, with the collapse of the Roman Empire, and ended about the year 1000, with the failure of the Apocalypse to arrive. They were followed by the Gothic Age. World The name "Dark Ages" is Eurocentric; many areas of the world flourished during Europe's post-Roman Empire collapse. Technology The Dark Ages were highly reliant on muscle power--human and animal. Characters Britain Camelot Arthur Galahad Gawain Guenevere Hank Morgan Isolde Lady of the Lake Lancelot (482- Mark Merlin Mordred Morgana la Fey Nimue Tristan (d. 526) Uther Pendragon Valiant Other Britain Aethelred the Unready (966-1016) Alfred the Great (849-899) Austin (d. 604) Caedmon Columba (521-597) Cuthbert (634-687) Godric Griffindor Helga Hufflepuff Rowena Ravenclaw Salazar Slytherin Saint Swithin (800-863) Taliesin (534-599) Venerable Bede (672-735) Ireland Brendan the Navigator (484-574) Bridget (451-525) Patrick France Alcuin (735-804) Bluebeard (d. 554) Charlemagne (742-814) Charles Martel (688-741) Clovis (466-513) Oliver (d. 778) Roland (d. 778) Rollo (860-930) Italy Boethius (480-525) Gregory the Great (540-604) Theodoric (454-526) Scandinavia Beowulf (495-583) Eric the Red (950-1003) Hamlet (d. 850) Hrothgar Ophelia Ragnar Lodbrok Arabia Mecca Ali (601-661) Fatima (605-632) Hussein (625-680) Mohammad (670-632) Omar (584-644) Other Arabia Abdul Alhazred (d. 738) Mesopotamia Harun Al-Rashid (763-809) Jafar The Mahdi (b. 869) China Bodhidharma (483-540) Monkey King Wu Zetian (624-705) Others Benedict (480-547) Saint Cyril (825-869) Dionysius the Short (470-544) Genji (b. 822) Justinian (483-565) Quetzalcoatl Siegfried Empress Theodora (500-548), Byzantine Empress Walpurga (710-770) Wenceslas (907-935) Creatures Certain creatures thrived during the Dark Ages--some of them more common then than at any time before or since. Dragons Basilisks Cynocephali Elves Giants Gryphons Hippogriffs Manticores Merfolk Ogres Rocs Unicorns Yales Timeline Age of Camelot 480 On the death of Uther Pendragon, Arthur removes the Sword in the Stone and is proclaimed King of Britain. 483 '''Arthur receives Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake. '''493: February 2: Theodoric the Great (454-526), King of the Ostrogoths, becomes ruler of Italy. While bringing much of the former Western Empire under his sway, he finds time for many feats of monster-slaying, which he performs under the name Dietrich. March 17: Death of Saint Patrick 497 Shaolin Monastery founded. 499 Discovery of zero--India. 500 Lancelot (b. 482) arrives at Camelot and becomes one of the Knights of the Round Table. 509 Clovis (466-511) becomes the first King of the Franks, founding the Merovingian dynasty. 516 The Battle of Badon, in which King Arthur decisively defeats the Saxons, holding back their invasion for a generation. 522 Silkworm eggs smuggled out of China to the Byzantine Empire. Merlin trapped in a hill by Nimue. Guenevere and Lancelot betray Arthur 524 Boethius (480-525) writes The Consolation of Philosophy while awaiting execution for a false charge of treason against King Theodoric. 525 Beowulf slays a dragon. 525 Dionysius the Short invents the Anno Domini calendar, displacing Jesus' birth by five years. 526 Galahad arrives at Camelot and is seated in the Siege Perilous. The Quest for the Holy Grail begins. King Mark of Cornwall kills his nephew, Sir Tristan, over a love triangle with Queen Isolde. 527 Justinian the Great (483-565) becomes Byzantine Emperor. 527 Bodhidharma comes to China, teaches kung fu to the Shaolin Monastery. 528 June 19: Connecticut Yankee Hank Morgan arrives at King Arthur’s court, transported there from the year 1879. 529 Saint Benedict (480-547) founds Monte Cassino, the first monastery of the Benedictine Order. 530 Voyage of St. Brendan the Navigator (484-574) 533 Queen Guenevere's affair with Sir Lancelot is revealed, sparking civil war among the Knights of the Round Table. 534 An enchantress gives birth to the bard Taliesin (d. 599). 537 The Battle of Camlann, in which King Arthur and his bastard son Mordred fall. Sir Bedivere returns Excalibur to its lake. Arthur is removed by the Lady of the Lake to Avalon, where he will sleep until Britain most needs him. * * * 554 Bluebeard, having murdered six wives, is slain by the brothers of the seventh--Armorica 555 Taliesin (534–599) becomes Royal Bard of Britain. 563 Saint Columba (521-597) founds the monestary at Iona, confronts the Loch Ness Monster and converts the Picts. 568 Lombards invade Italy. 570 April 26: Birth of the Prophet Mohammad--Mecca. 590 Gregory the Great (540-604) becomes Pope; fond of chanting, but not an enthusiast for calendar reform. 595 Pope Gregory sends Saint Austin (d. 604) to evangelize Britain, where he becomes the first Archbishop of Canterbury in 597. 600 Smallpox arrives in Europe from India. 600 Establishment of Cahokia, North America’s largest city and mound complex. 605 Birth of Fatima, Mohammad’s favorite daughter. 610 Mohammad (570-632) begins receiving revelations from the Archangel Gabriel. 616 Mohammad convinces Omar, one of his fiercest opponents, to convert to Islam. 618 Tang Dynasty founded in China--lasts until 907 The Hijra 622 Flight of Mohammad from Mecca to Medina. Year One of the Islamic calendar. 624 The King of East Anglia is buried in his ship at Sutton Hoo. 626 Birth of Hussein to Ali and Fatima 626 September 4: Taizong (599-649) becomes Emperor of China; under his rule, the empire experiences its greatest period of peace and prosperity. 629 The Chinese monk Xuanzang journeys to India, accompanied by the Monkey King. 630 January 11: Mohammad captures Mecca. 632 June 8: Death of Mohammed--Medina. 634 Omar becomes Caliph. 637 Muslim conquest of Syria 639 Muslim conquest of Egypt 642 Muslim conquest of Persia 642 The final destruction of the Library of Alexandria, at the order of Caliph Omar: “If the books contradict the Koran, they are heresy; if they agree with the Koran, they are superfluous.” 647 Muslim conquest of Libya 650 First paper money issued--China. 656 Ali becomes Caliph. 657 Caedmon, the first English-language poet, writes his Hymn. 661 January 27: Assassination of Ali (b. 599) 664 Muslim conquest of Kabul. 672 The Byzantines invent Greek Fire, an incendiary weapon for naval warfare. 680 October 10: Hussein killed by the Umayyad Caliphate--Karbala, Mesopotamia. His death split Islam into its Sunni and Shi’a branches. 685 Saint Cuthbert (634-687) becomes Bishop of Lindisfarne. 690 October 16: Wu Zetian (624-705) becomes the only reigning Empress of China. 691 Dome of the Rock built on the site of the Second Temple--Jerusalem 711 Moors begin conquest of Iberia. 730 Necronomicon written by the mad Abdul Alhazred. 730 Iconoclasts begin smashing icons in Constantinople. 731 The Venerable Bede (672-735) writes his History. 732 Charles Martel (688-741) defeats the Moors at the Battle of Tours, halting the expansion of Islam into Western Europe. 738 Al-Hazred devoured by an invisible monster--Damascus 751 Saint Walpurga (710-777), known for her witch-fighting skills, becomes an Abbess--Heidenheim. 768 Charlemagne (742-814) becomes king of the Franks. 786 Harun Al-Rashid (763-809) becomes Caliph--Baghdad. 778 August 15: Roland and Oliver killed at the Battle of Roncesvalles 782 The English monk Alcuin becomes tutor to Charlemagne's court--Aachen Viking Era 793 June 8: Raid on Lindisfarne begins the Viking era. 794 Court of the Japanese Emperor relocated to Kyoto. 800 September 2: Death of Archbishop Turpin, Charlemagne's spiritual adviser. December 25: Crowning of Charlemagne (742-814) as Holy Roman Emperor. 800 Building of Borobudur, the Buddhist temple, begins--Java. 803 Jafar (b.767), vizier to Caliph Al-Rashid, is executed by the Caliph for his affair with the Caliph’s sister--in Baghdad 839 Prince Genji (b. 822) is reduced to the status of an aristocrat for political reasons, but this doesn't slow down his amorous adventures. 841 Founding of Dublin by Vikings 850 First Norse settlement of Iceland 850 Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, tries to avenge his father and ends up killing pretty much everyone he knows. 855 Pope Joan, disguised as a man, serves as Pontiff for two years 859 House of Flying Daggers emerges to fight the Tang Dynasty 862 Saint Cyril (825-869) invents his alphabet--Moravia. 862 Vikings found the nation of Rus, later known as Russia--Novgorod July 2: Death of Saint Swithin, Bishop of Winchester. His feast day of July 15, which can be used to predict the weather, is not the date of his death but the anniversary of his body being moved indoors. 869 Birth of The Mahdi, the Twelth Imam, who will return at the End Times to bring peace and justice to the world--Samarra 870 May 1: Canonization of Saint Walpurga 871 Alfred the Great (849-899) becomes King of Wessex. 872 King Harald Fairhair unifies Norway with the aid of Berserker troops--Hafrsfjord, Norway 878 Alfred, in hiding at Aethelny, is scolded for burning the cakes. 899 Abandonment of the Mayan city of Tikal. 904 Gunpowder first used as a weapon of war--China 907 Birth of Good King Wenceslas--Bohemia 911 Vikings sign a treaty with the King of France and are given Normandy to settle down in. 923 Quetzalcoatl begins reign as the King of the Toltecs. 930 Althing, the world’s first parliament, founded--Thingvellir, Iceland 947 Quetzalcoatl departs for the east, promising to one day return. 978 March 18: Aethelred the Unready (968-1016), age 10, becomes King of England too soon. 982 Eric the Red (950-1003) discovers Greenland. 993 Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry founded by Godric Griffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin--the leading British wizards of their day. Category:Period Category:Dark Age Category:Historic